Pet Cats and Dogs

Animal welfare has been described as a complex, multi-faceted public policy issue which includes important scientific, ethical, and other dimensions. Improving our understanding of animal welfare, involves the fascinating study of animal behavior as well as the challenge of accessing the emotions of animals.
This is the On-Demand version of this course, which means you can start the course at any time and work through the course materials at your own pace. The materials and quizzes will always be available to you.
You can come and talk about the course on Twitter using the hashtag #EdAniWelf

教學方

Professor Nat Waran

Professor of One Welfare

Dr Fritha Langford

Dr Heather Bacon

Veterinary welfare edcuation and outreach

Miss Hayley Walters, RVN

Dr Jill MacKay

Animal Behaviour and Welfare Researcher

腳本

Hello, and welcome to Companion Animal Behavior and Welfare. My name is Hayley, and I'm the welfare and anesthesia veterinary nurse here at the Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh in Scotland. This week we are going to be looking at dogs and cats and also touch on rabbits and horses and the main welfare issues that they face in today's modern society. Whether they are loved pets, strays roaming the street, waiting in a shelter for a new home or being raised for meat. These different categories of cats and dogs, will all be facing a different set of welfare challenges. We are going to delve into what causes them to have to face the main welfare issues of today. And the impacts that their living conditions have on them. We'll look at what we know, about how to improve dog and cat welfare. And what obstacles stand in the way of improving their lives. It doesn't matter whether you own a pet or not. Dogs and cats play an important role in our society. And as sentient beings it's up to us to try and understand how their experiences impact their on their welfare. Dogs and cats were domesticated thousands of years ago and since then they've become an integral part of our lives. As much loved pets, as assistant animals, as a food source in some countries, or simply as an animal in which to share our streets with. Everybody knows that dogs and cats are integral to modern society providing companionship, security and nurturing experiences for many particularly the vulnerable and isolated in our communities. The AVMA, American Veterinary Medical Association, recognizes that the human-animal bond exists, and that it has done for thousands of years. Most of you on this course will have had a pet at some point in your life. And for the majority of you, it will have been a rewarding, and positive experience. We know, from research, that owning an animal is believed to have beneficial effects on human health. From a cardiovascular perspective, pet ownership has been associated with higher levels of physical activity, lower blood pressure, diminished responses to stress, and a reduced incidence or severity of depression. In addition, studies have also shown that pet ownership in patients with coronary artery disease improves survival rates following a heart attack. So there's no doubt that we benefit from pet ownership. But what about the animals? Do they benefit, or do they suffer? We're now going to take a look at the welfare problems facing our cats and dogs of today. First of all, though, we need to recognize that cats and dogs can be divided into several different categories. And depending on what category the dog or cat finds itself in. It's welfare problems it will be facing will be very different. We can assume that most dogs and cats will fall into one of the following categories. Pet, street or stray, shelter. Regardless of which category a dog or cat belongs to, its welfare needs do not change at all. The following are the five welfare demands not just for dogs and cats, but for all animals. Nutrition, appropriate consumption of nutritious food is a pleasurable experience. Environmental. Benign conditions offer adaptive choices and variety. [NOISE] Health. Physically sound, uninjured, disease-free animals enjoy good health. Behavior. Environment focused and inter-animal activities are satisfying and engaging. Mental or Affective State. Animals experience comfort, pleasure, interest and confidence. If we want to to talk about the welfare problems that dogs and cats face, then we need to look at them in their individual categories. Even though their needs do not change, a dog or cat sitting in a barren shelter environment, for example, will be facing a very different set of problems to the pet dog or cat in our living room. You would be forgiven for thinking that pet dogs and cats probably have the best life out of all the categories, but they suffer from welfare problems too. Lack of mental stimulation, and being left alone for long periods of time is a real problem for our pet dogs of today. We have behavioral problems, such as separation anxiety, aggression, destructive behavior. These are all very common. They are usually a symptom of there being something wrong with the dog, and the behavior is the dog's way of coping with the stress. Lack of exercise is also a problem, due to owner's time constraints, priorities, and energy levels, and obesity is on the increase due to overfeeding. This is often through guilt about leaving the dog alone all day, and also a lack of exercise and off-lead exercise. And finally, a lack of choice, about anything. The owner decides where the dog sleeps. Who it plays with. When it is walked. Where it is walked. What it eats. Even if it can reproduce or not. Research has been done in the UK, to show that 35% of owners relinquishing their dogs to rescue shelters. Do so because they do not have enough time to spend with their dog. And a fervent 85% cited behavioral problems as the reason for their relinquishment. According to a survey carried out in the U.S., the top ten behavioral reasons for dogs and cats were. Number one, biting. Two, aggressive towards people. Three, escapes. Four, destructive inside. Five, destructive outside. Six, disobedient. Seven, problems between new pet and other pets. Eight, aggressive toward other animals. Nine, soils the house. Ten, vocalizes too much. Unwanted behaviors are the reason behind the death and relinquishment of more pets per year than infectious diseases, tumors, and metabolic diseases combined all together. Now we're going to look at the welfare problems facing the pet cat. Cats, especially indoor-only cats, suffer from a lack of stimulation, a lack of exercise, and obesity. Cats have highly developed senses that are used to stalk and kill small prey animals. When cats are confined to the house 24 hours a day, these skills are unused in a sedentary, unchanging environment. And there is for the cat to do to occupy it's time if the owner does not interact with it. Research has shown that cats have adapted well to being fed two to three times a day. But actually prefer many small meals a day. This is difficult for the average cat owner to achieve with work and family commitments. So ad lib feeding tends to be the answer, with this leading to obesity in many cats. Stress as unusual as it may sound for an animal that doesn't have to go to work, pay a mortgage, remember birthdays or book a holiday. Is another factor compromising welfare for our pet cats. Urinary tract infections or disease which require veterinary intervention and treatment. Occur more often in indoor cats and multi-cat households than in outdoor and single-cat households. Proximity to other cats, remembering that cats [SOUND] are a selectively social species, highly stressful environments, moving house, different people constantly coming and going, and a lack of a sufficient number of litter trays for indoor cats can all contribute to stress and the associated urinary tract infections. Behavioral problems in cats such as scratching and spraying urine are normal behaviors and only considered problems if the cat performs them indoors. And just like the pet dog, the pet cat, especially the indoor pet cat has very little choice over anything it experiences. This table here serves as a useful comparison in welfare problems facing the indoor and outdoor pet cat. As we can see, there are pros and cons for both categories. And owners need to consider these sensibly when making the decision for their cat. Is boredom, obesity, or inactivity a fair price for the cat to pay to prevent theft, road traffic accidents, or being attacked? A major British charity, the PDSA, the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals carried out it's seventh annual survey in 2013, on over 2,000 pet owners, to track the well-being of the UK's pets, and to identify what needed to be done to improve their welfare. They found the following. In 57% of cat-owning households the number of litter trays is fewer than the number of cats. Only 5% of cat owners look at body condition score and weight before deciding how much to feed. 90% of cat owners report their cat is afraid of something. 41% of cats live in multi-cat households. The number of dogs having daily off the lead exercise has decreased to 66%. Only 17% of dog owners look at body condition score and weight before deciding how much to feed. 58% of dogs have never been to training classes when they were young. The proportion of dogs left alone for five hours or more on a regular basis has increased significantly from 18% to 25%. >> So whilst pet dogs and cats of today can enjoy improved health, a longer life, and better nutrition, thanks to advances in veterinary medicine and research, we still have a long way to go in making their lives welfare problem free. We have to remember also that it's these very advances can involve difficult decision whether it's ethically acceptable to pursue or continue treatment just because we can. In some cases from the animal's point of view, this may mean short term discomfort for long term gain. For example, under going orthopedic treatment may mean months of recovery in confined conditions. Which may lead to the exact welfare problems we try so hard to avoid. We obviously can not explain this to our pets and therefore we need to make sensible decisions on their behalf. Later on, we'll be discussing what we can do to improve the welfare of our pets. But now, let's look at the welfare problems facing street dogs and cats.